Grab Your Bag - The Blog

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I've been working on a podcast! This is that podcast. It's called Pilot House and I make it with my pal Sarah Shay.(Click on her name to get to her Patreon page and hear the music she's making!) Every episode we watch the Pilot of a television program neither of us has ever viewed and then provide a colorful, commentary filled recap.

I was really excited to start this project because I wanted something you could pick up at any point. So much of the broader media landscape right now is so serialized to the point that you either need to be onboard from the word go, or be a soooouper fast reader / binge-watching master. It's really fun to make something that just about anyone can get a kick out of. I hope you folks like it!

Speaking of looking at cool art made by other folks, our logo was designed by a dear friend of mine (And Sarah's too, they are room mates!) Simone Barry. She draws just about the fiercest tiny things you've ever seen!

One last thing! I had the distinct pleasure of being the featured guest on this weeks episode of Bellingham Art Beat with Boosie Vox! You can catch the full thing here. We covered quite a bit of ground in our chat, from politics to creativity and even touched on some of my mental health stuff over the past year. [Note: This was an hour interview edited to 30 minutes for time. Some parts of the talk are truncated, though I'm pretty happy with the edits Boosie made.]

So I know a lot of people are posting today, about... stuff... but I figured I'd say something happy, if that's all right with y'all?

About a year ago I had a negative experience during a visit to Patreon, a company I work closely with. I didn't contact them at the time because I felt too hurt and confused and prone to lash out. I sat for a while, thought carefully about what to say and when the time felt right what had been hundreds of words on the subject boiled down to a single sentence. I felt sad, now I'd gotten over it.

Imagine my surprise when an employee at Patreon took the time to ask me to detail my experience. I did, going into my exact concerns. Suffice to say that I felt some things I had noticed felt contrary to the aims of Patreon as a company which seeks to put artists first, ahead of bottom line and stock price.

I love Patreon so much, not just because I did a show there two years ago which resulted in perhaps the second finest crowd surf of my career. (The one ending with a kiss on the cheek from an also crowd-surfing Tomás Ford is the finest. He is my crowd-surfing teacher and to tandem surf with him was a dream come true!) I love them because of what they represent. I've always felt that we are in a new golden age for artists, that more people can make a (albeit meager sometimes) sustainable living through art. Patreon does so much to make this possible.

After receiving my email I got a followup phone call. This is what tightening the net looks like folks, this is how we reach across the gaps in geography and lifestyle and all the rest. I felt forgotten in the cogs of a giant machine, and then someone reached out and proved me wrong. For a company that manages bakers dozens of thousands of artists, that someone there took the time to notice my concerns, address them, and just say hello, means the world to me.

So that's why I'm celebrating today folks. Because the people we love are still out there, we're gearing up, and good things are going to happen. I know they can.

Thanks all of you out there who have supported my art. And thanks to Patreon for making that even more possible than ever!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a new blog update, but I’m back and hoping to make this a more regular thing. If you’re an old salt at this, I’m glad you’re still around, for those of you just joining this madcap adventure of a life, welcome! 2016, what a ride! I had some ups and downs like we all did, but I’m really trying to focus on the ups. I’ve got two big pieces of news so let’s dig right in.

This project keeps going through changes most of them exciting and positive, most noticeably the name of the album. I had intended to call this record “Joy Compactor” using the nickname I use in my mind whenever thinking of accordions, but then a few things dawned on me. First, all of the songs on this record were either used in my previous show “Roaring Accordion” or written while touring the show. It is, in a sense, the soundtrack of that two year chunk of my life. I’ve also decided to hold onto the title “Joy Compactor,” using it as the title of my touring show, so if you really want an album from me with that title, I’m sure there is one forthcoming!

Back in December I put the album up for digital download. It’s 12 tracks that I am immensely proud of, full to bursting with excellent work from a cavalcade of incredible friends. That done, I began to dig into the process of producing finalized album artwork and liner notes. I’ve never had liner notes before but seeing as I usually spend more time in my shows explaining the stories behind the tunes than actually playing them, I really should! Mere hours before the album went to press Aaron J. Shay, (bless ‘im!) sent me the little track now included with the album as the “prelude.” I had been hoping something would com along that would just tie the whole thing together and Aaron provided it.

The phenomenal Paulina Barry (Check out her Patreon!) was such a wonderful collaborator to work with on the artwork for the finished album, and The Carnelian Agency (Find them on Facebook here!) turned it into the disc I now hold in my hands. I can’t wait to get this out to all the Kickstarter Backers, and various folks who have been so supportive of my music over the years, this is the album I’ve always known I could produce. I’m so excited to share it with you!

Even as one chapter of musical creation passes so too another begins. I spent the better part of last Friday holding my glorious beard much too close to a fire, as I played a piano as it burned almost entirely down to the ground. Eventually I did have to step back because it got too hot, but my uncompromising director >> Micah Knapp << pushed me to my limits and I'm really happy with the results! I'm not sure of the exact release date as we're still in the final stages of mixing and mastering a new recording of the song, but it will be soon.

I hope this finds you all well and in good health! Let's all make 2017 one for the books, shall we?